“I'm leaving.”
Rin said, putting down her cards.
It didn't seem like she was bored of the card game.
Despite her phenomenal record of 100 wins and 0 losses, Rin had forced herself to play.
Rather than enjoying the game, she seemed to be reminiscing about something.
Only Rin would know whose memory she was cherishing.
Unfortunately, I wasn't a good enough opponent to bring that memory back to life.
Rin stood up from her seat.
“It's gotten quite late. Can you go home by yourself?”
“I'm a magus. I'm not afraid of anything.”
“I see.”
It was late at night. I decided to send her off alone and then secretly follow her.
With the Holy Grail War about to begin in Fuyuki, there would be plenty of dangerous people around.
If someone found out she was from the Tohsaka family, they might try to kidnap her to use as a bargaining chip.
It seemed her thoughts hadn't reached that far.
Rin was smart, but her sense of chivalry was too strong.
“Take care, mister. You should try not to leave the clinic.”
“Thanks for the advice.”
“…Goodbye.”
The secretive young lady didn't tell me much.
Why she had come all the way to my clinic, which was some distance from the Tohsaka estate.
I had asked during the card game, but she didn't answer.
She'd told me to ask twice, but when I actually did, she got angry instead.
How complicated.
As Rin was opening the glass door to leave, I called her name.
“Rin. Wait a moment.”
“What is it?”
I'd forgotten something.
I took a book and a jewel from the desk in my office.
I placed them in Rin's arms as she was turning to leave, and her expression asked what they were.
“It's a gift.”
“A gift?”
“You're a regular at the clinic, so it's something special. If you like it, do me a favor and advertise the clinic to the people you know.”
“Then it's a bribe, isn't it.”
“Oh. I hadn't thought of that.”
I asked if she didn't want them, but Rin shook her head.
“No. I'll accept it gratefully. Thank you.”
“Good. The book is for you, and the jewel is for your little sister.”
Rin, who had been turning away, froze.
Her voice sounded somewhat sad.
“Why are you giving something to Sakura too?”
“Why? Because she's a regular at my clinic, just like you. It seems she couldn't come today for some reason…”
“Sakura will never come here again.”
The chirping of insects could be heard. Autumn was approaching.
Rin, sadly saying her sister had gone far away, looked unnaturally mature for her age.
It seemed she was forcing herself to act like an adult.
Rin's usual maturity stemmed from her confidence.
But this maturity came from resignation.
Throwing a tantrum over a toy is a child's job. An adult gives up on the toy for reasons like cost or social standing.
In the same sense, Rin had given up on Sakura.
It was a bitter thing.
“Something must have happened.”
“…You don't need to know, mister.”
Don't need to know, she says.
Who wouldn't be concerned when someone tells you not to worry while wiping away their tears?
Rin hurried out of the clinic, perhaps afraid she would show her tears.
“Goodbye. The gift… I'll try to deliver it separately.”
“…Do that.”
Another task was added to my list.
***
The end of autumn is approaching.
Soon, the year would change. Today, too, I was watching over the clinic.
Morgan had gone out, which was rare.
-I have a place to be. Please wait a moment, my husband.
I may be a taken man with a child... but we were too far past the point for me to say something like that.
In any case, I was alone.
Sunday evening. I was reading a book, enjoying the silence.
“Is anyone here?”
“Come in.”
A visitor came to the clinic.
The man, dressed in a black priest's cassock, wore an incredibly stiff expression.
“My name is Kirei Kotomine. I have come to deliver a message on behalf of my father.”
“You must be Risei-san's son. I've heard a lot about you.”
As if he had no need for such formalities, he got straight to the point.
He seemed like a dull man, one who found no joy in life himself.
“The last Servant has been summoned. The Holy Grail War begins tonight.”
“Is there any reason you're telling me this? I am the clinic director, a man unrelated to the Holy Grail War.”
“We are already aware that you have summoned Caster.”
It seems the Church hasn't been idle.
No. Could they have been forced to notice because of my workshop, which is practically a bomb shelter?
Kirei Kotomine spoke in a hollow voice.
“The Holy Church wishes for you, a former Executor, to cooperate with Tokiomi Tohsaka as a final request.”
“If you want cooperation, you should be asking, not ordering.”
“Is that a refusal?”
“It is.”
The conversation ended there.
He was watching me. He was trying to hide his gaze, but it was too obvious.
‘Neck, heart, then liver, is it? He must have been ordered to kill me if I refused.’
Unfortunately, even among Executors, there are different levels of skill.
The gap is even wider among those who have reached a state beyond human.
To be frank, I don't know the full extent of Kirei Kotomine's power.
I've only heard that he's one of the top Executors.
Even so, I can guarantee my victory.
I can't even picture myself losing.
“………I understand.”
“I won't see you out.”
With a nod, he bowed his head, turned his back, and left the clinic.
Just as I thought it had ended unexpectedly peacefully.
*Boom.*
Along with the sound of an explosion, numerous presences began to surround the clinic.
“Just as I thought.”
Before I could even get up, Morgan's defensive magecraft activated.
A blue light enveloped the entire clinic.
She called it a conceptual defense that constantly circulates semi-etherealized magical energy to absorb external attacks as part of the circulation...
Too complicated.
In any case, Morgan was confident that it would never be breached. I suppose I could trust that.
Just as she said, the enemies couldn't land a single effective hit.
They needed to kill me while I was inside the clinic, but they couldn't break through its defenses.
Their hesitation was clearly visible through the window.
“Assassin? No. Aren't they Servants? There are too many of them.”
There should only be one Servant at most, yet the number of enemies surrounding the clinic was roughly over 30.
Their outfits were too crude for them to be trained assassins.
Like Heroic Spirits that had popped out of the past.
A Noble Phantasm? Clones? I couldn't be sure.
“It seems there's no way to find out who they are without facing them directly.”
Curious as I was, I had no intention of acting as the enemy wished.
As I waited patiently, the blue magical energy enveloping the clinic changed to crimson.
It assesses the enemy's strength through defense, then attacks with the optimal spell.
Morgan had explained it as a very simple magecraft.
“…Wow.”
But its performance was anything but simple.
First, black spheres began to appear sporadically on the clinic's outer walls.
The enemies were no fools, so they naturally attacked the black spheres.
They threw shurikens or struck with scythes.
But far from being destroyed, the spheres only grew in size.
Finally, when the spheres grew to the size of a person, they unleashed all their power and fired lasers in every direction.
“——!”
“Ugh———!”
The enemies were annihilated without even leaving a death cry.
It was merely a slight graze from a laser on the shoulder.
But from that point, a black plague blossomed and destroyed every part of their bodies.
A magecraft that brought death with a single touch.
Its piercing power was also immense, leaving dodging as the only answer.
But the speed at which the lasers were fired was too fast for even my eyes to follow.
Unavoidable, unblockable, and leading to death the moment it touches you.
Why would Morgan create such a magecraft? It sent a chill down my spine.
“Is it over?”
I couldn't sense any more presences.
Seeing that the defensive magecraft had also stopped, it was safe to assume all the enemies were dead.
“But this can't be all of them. If there can be 30 Servants, why not 100?”
For now, it was certain the enemies were Servants. They had died leaving only remnants of magical energy.
The Master was Kirei Kotomine. He had covered the back of his hand, but conversely, that very act allowed me to deduce he was a Master.
And so, the first day of the Holy Grail War came to an end.
Morgan still hadn't returned.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register